


Keep Your Eyes Open

by Sporadic_fics



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Marvel Reverse Big Bang 2019, Minor Bucky Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Oblivious Tony Stark, Sam Wilson has PTSD, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-04-22 16:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22191910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sporadic_fics/pseuds/Sporadic_fics
Summary: Steve likes Tony a lot but he struggles to say his feelings and Tony is very oblivious. Join Steve and how he pines for Tony.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 90





	Keep Your Eyes Open

**Author's Note:**

> My Marvel Reverse Big Bang fic!  
My Tumblr: [ @sporadic-fics ](PASTE%20LINK%20HERE)  
Artist: [ @talkativefangirl13 ](https://talkativefangirl13.tumblr.com/)  
Beta: [ @yourselenite ](https://yourselenite.tumblr.com/)

It was an easy mission, they just had to get in and out, rescuing the hostages. Natasha would go in and take the bad guys down to open a path for Steve and Sam while Tony and Thor stayed outside to make sure no one escaped. Clint was on a nearby abandoned building with a perfect view of what was going on in the building.

Natasha was efficient taking them down. She kept in the shadows and out of sight of any cameras so Steve and Sam could sneak along the halls and get to the hostages. Steve couldn’t help but smile when he saw Natasha run past him in a blur, her long legs wrapping around a Hydra agent and her momentum caused the agent to spin around which gave Nat the perfect opportunity to shoot two other Hydra agents. 

“Have I ever told you that I love you, Nat?” Sam panted, back against the wall as the dead Hydra agent dropped to his feet. “Because I do, I really, really do.”

Natasha huffed a small laugh as she walked past him to look for any more Hydra agents coming their way. 

“Two coming in from your left.” Clint’s voice crackled through the comms. “Winter Soldier and I’s positions are compromised. We are fine but it may take us a while to get into better positions”

Steve had an uneasy feeling in his stomach, it felt too easy for Sam and himself. Steve could hear Bucky growling at the agents as he fought them and it felt too quiet where Steve was. 

“Tony, Thor, how are you two?”

Steve raised a questioning glance at Sam who shook his head minutely, a sure sign that Sam had the same feeling as he did. This made Steve swallow the lump of anxiety down his throat and tap his comms twice, a signal to the team that Steve had a bad feeling.

“We are compromised too, Cap.” Steve’s stomach sank as he took in Tony’s words. The entire team was getting attacked outside while everyone on the inside was fine. Were the hostages even there? “We will be fine, carry on with the mission.”

Steve heard Tony shout commands at Thor in the distance and he looked at Sam and Natasha as they looked at him with thinly disguised worry.

“Alright, the quicker we get the hostages, the better.” Steve closed his eyes for a second. “Carry on with the plan.”

So they did, they carried on with the plan and eventually made their way to the hostages. To Steve’s surprise, there were only two hostages. They were physically perfectly fine, but they looked terrified and with good reason. They were tied up and had clearly been there a while with their suits all dirtied up.

“Hill, we have them and will make our way to the rendezvous point,” Natasha spoke to Maria while Sam and Steve released the hostages from their bindings, smiling reassuringly at them. “ETA is eight minutes.”

Natasha nodded her head to the door, her hands going back to holding her guns. The rendezvous point was the roof of the building where Maria could fly down and pick up the two hostages, taking them to a medical facility straight away, and leaving the Avengers to take care of themselves.

They were at the final staircase to the roof when several blasts surrounded Steve and his team which caused them to tense, Steve immediately holding up his shield to protect the hostages but soon dropped it when War Machine came into view.

“Sorry Cap,” Rhodey was sheepish when he saw the scowls on his teammates’ faces. “I have to fly them up to the jet because Maria can’t land.”

“Won’t you be a target?” Steve quietly asked him. They were still on the staircase, making their way up to the roof when Rhodey opened the door to escort them out,.Bucky was panting, crouched down with his rifle by his side.

“Nope, we have Soldier here to help out.”

Bucky tiredly waved up at the team, a trickle of blood running down his temple but a grin on his face.

Sam and Rhodey carefully, but securely, held onto the hostages so they could fly them to the jet. Bucky and Natasha had their guns at the ready to take out anybody who even thought of shooting at the pair and Steve stood at the door on the roof so he could slam his shield into anybody who thought of interrupting. 

“Everything alright there, Cap?” It was Tony and he had flown overhead to help blast some of the Hydra agents that Natasha and Bucky hadn’t been able to shoot yet.

“Yeah, I think we have this.” Steve slammed his shield into a tall Hydra agent who tried to tackle him. “Thanks for the assist though!”

Tony laughed as he zoomed off to fight more bad guys, paying his attention solely to them and seeming to mess with them taunting them. Steve looked up as the jet took off with the hostages and Rhodey. Sam was flying towards him, shooting everything he could and landing at the bottom of the building to make his way through the crowd of agents that had arrived.

Natasha looked at Sam, impressed as Bucky attached a grappling hook to a heavy-duty metal rail that was on the roof to pull Natasha to his body.

“You ready?” 

Natasha rolled her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her gun still in her hand. Bucky’s arms held her tightly around her waist and he kissed her cheek with a chuckle as he ran off of the roof with her.

Steve could hear Nat laugh softly in his ear as the pair rushed to the ground. It was only when he saw the grapple hook detach (after Bucky had landed he pressed the handy button that Stark had put into the grapple hooks) and slide back into Bucky’s utility belt that Steve ripped the metal rail out of its holdings to jam the roof door closed.

Steve breathed in deeply before he ran and jumped off the roof, his body curling into his shield to protect himself from the impact. Even when his body burned with pain, Steve couldn’t help but grin as he stood from the ground on shaky knees, joining the fight straight away.

Natasha was firing as many bullets as she could, clearing a path with Clint firing arrows from somewhere Steve still could not locate. They worked well as a team. It was playing out perfectly, but that was before the sky darkened with an array of robots covering every inch of the sky, their first target being Tony.

Tony had been swarmed by the robots, them clinging to his suit and firing at him at close range. It was good that his suit could handle the power, the robots being much weaker than his own but one particular blast to the centre of his chest sent him spiralling down. Even from this distance, Steve could see the lights in the Iron Man suit’s eyes dim. 

Steve’s heart felt like it had ripped in two when he saw Tony plummet to the ground. He was a blur of red and gold as he fell and Steve could hear him begging Jarvis to hurry up, to find and fix the problem in his suit. Steve couldn’t breathe as he flung his shield against somebody’s chest, racing towards Tony.

“Sam! Thor! One of you get him!”

Two blurs swept through the sky, both men racing to get to Tony, whose body had gone limp and voice had cut out. He was ridiculously close to the ground, only a few hundred feet above it, so Steve ran as fast as he possibly could. He knew he couldn’t catch Tony. Hell, if he did catch him, then it would probably break every bone in his body with Tony’s weight (more from the suit than Tony himself) and momentum, but he still ran as fast as he could to get to him.

Natasha, Bucky and Clint kept up shooting whoever they could and a loud crackle of thunder filled the sky as Thor channelled every ounce of lighting towards the robots, still surrounding Tony. Steve’s hatred for Hydra and their experimentations grew more and more each day.

The robots fell to the ground with the dead Hydra agents and Steve’s breathing stopped as Tony fell with them. He was a streak of red and gold, a falling star among the silver debris that crashed with him. Steve couldn’t help the strangled sob that left him when Tony collided with the ground below him. Sam let out a shout of horror at the sight of Tony hitting the ground.

Sam carried on flying, calling Tony’s name when he landed softly next to him.

Jarvis’ voice broke the tense silence.“Sir will be alright, Mr Wilson, he will just be in a lot of pain. He hit his head on impact, causing a concussion and Mr. Stark to pass out. He is safe to move.” 

Thor gently cradled Tony in his arms, so he could walk him to the Quinjet. The Iron Man nanotech fell away from Tony’s body and went into the bracelet on his left wrist. 

Bucky broke away from Natasha so he could go to Sam and see if he was okay. His arm slung across Sam’s shoulders and pulled him close as he steered him towards the jet. Nat squeezed at Steve’s shoulder, giving him a small smile before quickly swiping at the tears that had fallen on his cheeks.

They all sat in the Quinjet in silence, shocked to the core at how Tony had just fallen, so lifeless and vulnerable. Steve stayed by Tony’s side, holding onto his limp hand, and his eyes were on the monitors that Natasha had hooked Tony up too. Bucky was still with Sam, who was shaking and clutching to Bucky like a lifeline. Natasha was contacting Maria and Rhodey, letting them know what had happened. Clint was busy flying the jet with Thor in the passenger seat.

The thirty-minute ride to the hospital felt like it was taking hours. When they landed, Steve went to follow Tony into the hospital but Natasha held his arm and shook her head. Tony already had Pepper and Rhodey were there waiting for him anxiously.

The next stop for Steve and the Avengers was the Tower. The remaining Avengers all got washed and changed, and all took turns squishing Sam to their bodies to make sure he was okay while having a film on in the background. He wasn’t okay, and Steve worried he wouldn’t be for a while. Steve knew that while Tony was falling, for a split second Sam would have seen Riley because if Steve was in that position he probably would have seen Bucky falling all over again.

So while Sam was pressed against Steve’s side, trembling from the earlier ordeal in his sleep, Steve had time to think. To think of his friends and how they had all gotten out of there unscathed except for Tony, the one Steve should have kept a closer eye on. Steve ran through the mission several times in his head, and he had thought of at least eight ways he could have stopped Tony from getting hurt, but thinking about it didn’t change what had happened.

Three days later, Tony came out of the hospital. Steve had heard the rumble of Tony’s car while he was in the downstairs cafe of the tower and ran out to it to see Happy driving Tony to the building.

Rhodey helped Tony out of the car, waving off Happy, and brought Tony towards Steve with a smile.

“I thought you had died, Tony.” Steve scowled at him

Tony rolled his eyes, wincing while doing so, and patted Steve’s firm chest. “I’m fine, Cap. It's going to take a lot more than a few robots to kill me, you know this.”

No one batted an eye when Steve smushed Tony into a hug, his warmth wrapping around Tony.

“I know, big guy, I know.” Tony talked into his chest, his voice muffled but he accepted the hug for a minute before he pulled back, patting Steve’s chest again. “I heard there is a certain bird who is traumatised right now so I better make sure he is okay, huh?”

“I’m not traumatised, Tony.” Clint’s voice echoed above them, confusion laced in his voice. “Why would I be?”

“Damnit, Clint, get out of the damn vents! I’m talking about Sam, you idiot.” Tony looked up at the vent with irritation before stumbling a little, Steve caught him but was pushed away just as quickly. The touch of Tony burnt at Steve’s skin for the rest of the day as the rejection plagued his memory.

_________

Tony was laying on the couch, still a little woozy from his concussion, glaring at the ceiling. It was clear that he was annoyed at the fact he had been locked out of his workshop, but it was to make sure he didn’t hurt himself while recovering from his concussion.

“I know this is nothing like what you do in your workshop but I bought you these.” Steve put two bags on the table for Tony to investigate.

In one bag was a Lego Avengers tower and in the other bag, there were a few build your own kits. There was a metal dragon, the Millennium Falcon, and a few tiny robots to be built, and Tony looked at Steve with wide, grateful eyes.

“Sit down, you can help me make them.” Tony slowly sat up so Steve could sit with him. “I love Lego as much as the next person but I think we should do the Avengers tower set with the team on a much larger scale, Jarvis scan all the bits and pieces and print them out but make the scale ten times larger.”

“Of course, Sir. Should I make enough small adjustments that it doesn’t get us a lawsuit, sir?”

“You know the drill, J.” Tony grinned as he opened the box that held pieces to create a tiny robot. “Hey, J, I am making you and Dum-E some robot babies.”

“I cannot wait to see them, Sir.”

Steve laughed at the sarcasm in Jarvis’ voice but didn’t comment on it as Tony passed Steve certain tools and pieces. They worked together in comfortable silence, Tony giving small demands every now and then. It was peaceful.

“Thanks for talking to Sam, by the way.” 

“When I was falling, I saw his face and I have heard about Riley.” Tony stuck his tongue out while he screwed one of the fiddlier bits of the robot together. “I knew he’d be going through it.”

“You probably don’t want to answer this, but are you okay? I know that you didn’t cope well when you fell after the Battle Of New York, and I am scared this could have triggered something.”

Tony put the parts of the robots in his hands down onto the coffee table, a slight shake to his hands. “Just a few more sleepless nights, you know how it is.”

“You can talk to me if you want or need to, I hope you know that.” Steve carried on with his tinkering, knowing that if he seemed too attentive that Tony would build up those walls all over again. Tony nodded his head before returning to building the mini robot.

Tony held up his finished robot for Steve to see it, “I think I am going to call it Stripes.”

“Jarvis, say hello to Stripes!”

“Hello, young Stripes.” Jarvis’ voice was surprisingly gentle as Dum-E came rolling up to him with a small chip.

Tony patted Dum- E’s head affectionately before picking the chip up and placing it into his miniature robot. A small whirring sound came from Stripes as its small limbs moved back and forth.

“How did you do that? It wasn’t supposed to be one that moved…” Steve picked up the box for Tony’s robot to see if it was one that was supposed to move but it wasn’t so Steve was left staring at the box in confusion.

“I got Dum-E to bring me some wires and the like.” Tony shrugged as if it was no big deal. Steve was left grinning in surprise. 

Steve stood up, his long legs stiff from sitting too long, “Hey, Tony?”

“Yeah, pal?”

Steve cringed at the name, preferring a name that was sweeter, not so platonic. He often had dreams where he would be curled up next to Tony and Tony would run a hand through his hair, calling him ‘sweetheart’ so when Tony called him pal, it felt like he had been put back into the ice. 

“Want to go out with me tonight? There’s a nice restaurant around the block.” Steve shifted back and forth, his anxiety getting the better of him.

“Sure,” Tony stretched all catlike on the couch, smiling up at Steve as his shirt rode up, showing a tiny slither of his stomach. “Hey J, ask the team if they are free tonight for food.”

Steve felt the colour drain from his face as Tony’s phone beeped several times. Tony looked at it and grinned, turning it to Steve so he could see that everyone had said yes.

“Get dressed, Rogers, we are going in an hour.”

Steve walked numbly back to his room. This had been the third time Steve had asked Tony out for a meal and every time, Tony had invited the entire team out for it instead. Steve knew that he needed to explicitly ask Tony to go on a date but every time he tried to ask him, his mouth would go dry and his tongue felt too big for his mouth. 

Steve had jumped out of planes with no parachute several times, yet he couldn’t ask Tony out on a simple date. He hated it and he hated how Bucky looked at him sadly when he saw Tony be oblivious to Steve’s questions. Steve also hated how he wanted to curl up into a hug with Bucky who would say that everything would be okay and that one day Tony would say yes.

Steve sighed as he finished shaving, at least this wasn’t as bad as the time Steve thought Tony had said yes to a date. He had dressed up nicely, in his finest clothes and had walked through the restaurant with newfound confidence but that was soon taken from him when he noticed the rest of the team sat with Tony. He had run to the bathroom out of embarrassment. He didn’t think anyone had seen him until Sam came in and talked to him, watching how Steve ripped his tie off, shoved it into his sports jacket and then rolled his shirt sleeves up trying to look as casual as possible. The tremble in his hands gave him away.

Instead of dressing as he did on that dreadful night, he dressed in a smart top and jeans. 

The restaurant was nice and everyone was smiling and laughing but Steve couldn’t help but wish that everyone was at the tower, just leaving Tony and himself at the table.

Steve couldn’t look at Tony, his mind too busy reeling about how he wanted Tony all to himself. Steve knew that if he looked at Tony, he would blush from head to toe. It was by looking at his food alone that he missed how Tony’s face paled, how he kept asking people to repeat what they had said to him. Steve didn’t miss how Tony stumbled into his lap though. Steve’s hands were warm against Tony’s hips, holding him as upright as possible.

“You okay?”

“‘Course I am, Cap. I think I will head back though.” Steve didn’t miss how Tony clutched onto him tightly.

“Let’s get you back then.” Steve stood up, his hands still around Tony. He looked back at the Avengers, his concern clear on his face. “We’ll see you later.”

Tony slumped down onto the couch of the common room in the tower, his body utterly exhausted. The cushions felt like heaven to him and he seemed to just melt into them as Steve took off his shoes and sports jacket.

“You don’t have to do this, Steve.” Tony closed his eyes and curled up hugging one of the fuzzy cushions Pepper had bought for the tower.

“You are still recovering from a concussion, Tony. For once in your life, let someone take care of you.”

Steve sat across from Tony and picked up his sketchbook that he usually left to the side so he could draw aimlessly. At first, it was just the furniture that he drew but then his attention fell to Tony’s relaxed form. Steve drew him in soft lines, focusing on his long eyelashes and soft, plump lips. He wished that he had his watercolours with him so he could paint the natural pink of Tony’s lips and the faint blush that was high on his cheekbones.

He didn’t know how long he had been sat there drawing Tony, but it had been long enough that the team had come back home. Sam even put a bowl of noodles on the table next to Steve he could have some more food. Clint and Rhodey ended up hefting Tony up to drag him to bed. 

“Rogers.”

Steve looked up from his sketchbook, the drawing of Tony coming to a halt, seeing Natasha looking down at him with a slightly furrowed brow. Anybody else wouldn’t notice it, but he had known her for a long time, and he had an artist’s eye for detail.

“Hey, Nat.” Steve shifted so he could pat the seat next to him. “Come sit with me.”

Natasha did so, her legs resting over Steve’s in the process. His large hands circled her calf so he could massage it and her eyes closed as her head tilted back.

“You need to talk to him about this because this whole pining thing is not a good look on you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Tony. You like him but you are too afraid to ask him out properly and when you try to, he makes it a group thing because he is an oblivious idiot.”

Steve rolled his eyes at her, not impressed by the interrogation technique and moved to stand up but a cool hand grabbed at his shoulder and pushed him down.  _ Bucky. _

“Damnit.” Steve cursed under his breath as Bucky sat on the other side of him to put his legs over Steve’s lap, just like Nat, blocking him in.

“Stop being stubborn and listen to us, you punk.”

“You need to talk to him or you need to put distance between yourselves. This is eating you up.” 

Nat absentmindedly wrapped a bit of her hair around her finger as Bucky talked to Steve. “If you don’t do anything about it then you will mess up in missions because your head isn’t in the game.”

Steve threw his head back against the back of the couch and groaned as his friends stared at him expectantly.

“I’ll talk to him, I just need to figure out what to say.”

Bucky ruffled Steve’s hair. “You will be fine. Your words are just like your art, it comes naturally to you.”

“Not with him though.” Nat looked at Steve knowingly, a teasing smirk making its way onto her lips. “Does your heart flutter when you think of him? Does he make you all giddy on the inside? Do you long for him at night?”

Steve’s jaw dropped as he tried to make a response but he was too flustered, bright red staining his cheeks as Bucky laughed.

“Don’t worry, Stevie, she is just saying what she feels every time she sees me.” Bucky teased Nat with a grin, causing her to kick at his legs.

Steve laughed at the two before setting his mind to Tony. How Tony smiled at him when the others weren’t looking, how he always gave Steve a quick questioning glance to make sure he was okay. Steve enjoyed how, despite Tony’s remarks, Tony would always let Steve into his lab, letting him stay the entire night on some occasions.

“Pass me my damn noodles.”

_______

Steve found himself standing above Tony, who was injured again. This time it was from being in his lab experimenting. He had only been allowed back in his lab for two days and he had already been blown back into a wall three times.

“Tony, you need to stop being so reckless. Please.”

Tonky blinked up at him in outrage, a little dazed by being pushed through a wall at a great force, but he channelled every ounce of anger and annoyance he could at Steve.

“I’m reckless? You are one to talk, Mr Let’s Jump Out Of A Plane!” Tony shifted onto his elbows, slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position.

“Tony, you getting hurt wrecks the team!” Steve shouted as the idea of Tony getting hurt sent shivers down his spine. “It wrecks me.”

“Stop being melodramatic!” Tony had pushed himself up the dented wall, still looking at Steve with fury in his eyes.

“I’m not being melodramatic, Tony!” Steve sat down on the floor, his legs were too shaky for him to stand. “Tony, I can’t lose you. Please, you have to think about how this affects others.”

“Me dying or getting injured doesn’t affect anyone.”

“Stop it, Tony.” Steve pressed his head against the wall and looked at him with defeat. “Stop acting like you’re not important.”

“I’m not!” Tony sighed and drank his cold coffee with a sour face. “Steve, I am no Captain America. I’m just a man in a metal suit.”

Steve stood up, anger coursing through him and stalked towards Tony. Steve noticed how Tony braced himself so he moved slower, letting Tony back away if he wanted to. When Tony didn’t move away, Steve cupped Tony’s face, pulling him close. Steve tentatively pushed forward so he could kiss him. Tony jumped slightly but kissed him back, his hands curling around the straps on Steve’s suit.

“You are so much more than a man in a metal suit.” Steve breathed out as he pulled back and gave Tony a small smile, his hands still cupping Tony’s face. “It is a fancy suit though.”

Steve pulled him in for another kiss and Tony returned it, melting into him for a small moment before Tony yanked himself away. Steve chased him for a second before blinking owlishly and stepping away, his hands falling to his sides.

“I appreciate the sentiment and everything but I don’t do kissing.” Steve’s face fell to one of horror.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I should have asked to kiss you.” Steve stumbled back.

“Don’t worry about not asking to kiss me. It was a good kiss but I don’t do the feelings part of it.” Tony looked directly at Steve, a harshness in his eyes. “I don’t do feelings with you.”

Hurt bloomed in Steve’s eyes as he stumbled away from Tony. 

“That was low, Tony.” Steve let out the shakiest of breaths. “Even for a lie.”

“I’m not lying!” Tony was harsh with his comment but the truth spoke in his eyes. Tony was quick to turn away, storming off so Steve couldn’t see an ounce of his vulnerability.

“Tony! Tony, please come back.” Steve chased after Tony, a flair of despair flickering within him.

Tony spun around to look at Steve, fury back in his eyes but none of it was directed at Steve.“Damnit, Steve! I don’t do this! I don’t do the lovey-dovey crap. It isn’t in my DNA.”

“I’m not saying I want you to confess your love. I just want a chance, Tony, just one tiny chance.” Steve pleaded with his hands ghosting around Tony’s face, eager to touch but scared to hurt or pressure him. 

“I can’t do that. Now leave me alone.” 

Steve nodded his head sadly, walking away with his head down. As Steve walked away, tears burning at his eyes, he ran into Natasha. Steve’s silence answered every question she had so she drew him up into her arms and pulled him towards the elevator to go to her floor.

Bucky and Sam were waiting on Nat’s floor with blankets and pillows so when she led Steve to her big bedroom they attacked him with comfort. Steve didn’t really say anything, he just laid there in silence, letting the three comfort him. A film played in the background while Nat stroked her fingers through his hair. Sam and Bucky were also silent as they laid next to Steve but Bucky did clench his fist in the sheet when Steve let out a little whimper as he pressed his head into Bucky’s shoulder.

Weeks passed and as time goes by, wounds healed but the damage of heartbreak was a wound like no other and took even longer to heal. Steve spent his time with the Avengers, but he kept his space from Tony, going as far as looking at a small apartment for himself. 

He would smile at Tony in passing, trying to show that they could still be friends but Tony pointedly looked away. The team could tell that something was wrong between the two, Steve could see it in their sympathetic smiles and how they tried to distract Steve whenever Tony was around.

The team, however, didn’t give Tony any grief. They let the pair sort it themselves, not getting involved but offering a shoulder to cry on. Other than the night Steve had wept on Bucky’s shoulder, he hadn’t cried again, putting the walls he had gradually pulled down all the way back up. His face stoic but his heart continued to break.

_______

Steve shifted in his Captain America suit, uncomfortable wearing it at another press conference where everyone else (except Hawkeye for some reason) could dress in their normal clothes. It was a long press conference where Steve struggled to pay attention to the press, letting the others take over for him. He thanked the gods that the press conference was at the tower, then he could go straight to his room so he could wallow in his own self-pity once it was over. 

Steve was glad that Tony took a majority of the questions so he could just sit back and watch Tony talk. Steve couldn’t help but marvel at how quick Tony managed to answer back to the press and their questions. The only other person on the team that was good enough to do that was Natasha, and she was being oddly quiet, a small muscle above her lip twitching.

Steve’s attention snapped to the press when one of the journalists presented him with a question.

“Sorry, could you repeat that?”

The journalist smiled patiently at Steve, took a deep breath and repeated the question, “As you are the captain of the team, do you feel like Iron Man getting injured not so long back was your fault?”

Steve could hear the Avengers hiss, their fight reflex instantly coming in, especially when Bucky actually went to lunge over the table they were sitting at. Natasha and Clint held him back as they seethed in their seats. The question even made Tony’s jaw drop in shock.

“Every failure or injury that happens with this team is my fault. My team and civilians are my top priority so if either gets hurt then it is on me, and I deeply regret that Iron Man got hurt.”

The press seemed happy with his response and continued their attack on the Avengers with more personal and unnecessary questions. Steve paid more attention, talking more when the questions towards the others got too much, his sass starting to match Tony’s. 

The conference finally finished two hours later, and Steve watched as Tony walked away as quickly as possible, quite agitated by the press at the conference. Steve couldn’t help but frown as Tony left the room.

When Steve found Tony, he was stood outside in the pouring rain, shivering in his black suit. Tony didn’t look at Steve as he walked towards him. He kept his eyes on the cityscape and his hands clenched on the metal rail of the Avengers building. Even with the cold rain making him shudder, he seemed to be in his own little world. For a moment, Steve thought that Tony was listening to Jarvis but he watched how Tony slumped against the rail, one hand moving into his hair to give it a tug. He was completely silent, and Steve’s stomach clenched with uneasiness. 

Steve unclasped his shield from his harness and lifted it over Tony’s head, keeping his posture as soft and small as he could so he didn’t startle Tony. The brunette still looked up sharply, his gauntlet smoothing over his hand so it shone in Steve’s face. It was only when Tony full recognised who was in front of him that he turned the charging repulsor off.

“You okay? You seem out of it Tony.”

“Just go away Rogers, I don’t want or need you here.” 

Steve swallowed the hurt, just like he had been doing for the past few years when it came to Tony and his rejections, whether they were intended or not. This time though, it wasn’t the hurt of being rejected that hurt, that had started to numb over time, no, this was something else.

“Tony…” 

“Don’t, Steve.” Tony’s tone was short and clipped.

Steve sighed, lowering his shield to the side before stepping back to start walking away. 

“You know what? No, you don’t get to walk away.” Tony had spun around, his finger pointing directly at Steve. “You are the one who did this! You are the one who got my head all messed up!”

“I don’t understand, Tony.” Steve looked at Tony with confusion.

“You don’t understand?” Tony was incredulous. “You were the one who told me about your feelings, and you got my head all screwed, and now all I can think about is you and your stupid face and how I-”

Steve walked up to Tony, the shield being lifted to cover their heads again, and looked at him intently. His hand itched to cup Tony’s cheek, to stroke his thumb along his prominent cheekbone, right under the small bag under his eye. He wondered if Tony would nuzzle into his hand.

“Talk to me.”

“I’m a Stark, we don’t do emotions, Steve.”

“I know that is a lie, I have seen you crying while we watched Coco.” Steve couldn’t resist, he cupped Tony’s cheek in his hand. “Talk to me, please.”

“I can’t stop thinking about your stupid face and how kissable it is.” For a moment Tony’s eyes were blazing with fire, daring Steve to say anything, but that all fell away leaving him looking vulnerable. “So goddamn kissable.”

“Yeah?” Steve breathed, his heart racing.

“Yeah.” Tony gulped, his eyes darting away from Steve’s piercing gaze for a split second before his hand went up to tentatively touch Steve’s chin. His gauntlet fading from his hand so his skin could touch Steve’s. It was warm to the touch, and Steve couldn’t help but marvel at Tony, letting himself truly look at him.

It was Tony who pulled Steve closer, letting their lips connect. It was warm and passionate, and Steve ended up dropping his arm with the shield to wrap it around Tony’s waist to pull him in tight. When a drop of rain landed in Steve’s eye, he quickly put the shield above their heads, placing his other arm around Tony’s waist to keep him close as they continued to kiss.

When Steve pulled away, he pulled Tony’s back to his chest so they could look at the view ahead of them. It was beautiful, all bright lights but so far away, leaving them in their own little cocoon of silence. Steve kissed Tony’s temple letting peace settle over him for the first time since before the war.


End file.
